Homeopathic remedies to become regulated

New regulations are to be introduced today that allow homeopathic remedies to specify the illness they aim to treat on the packaging, prompting concern from doctors and other healthcare professionals.

The new rules are being introduced by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in an attempt to regulate alternative remedies in a similar way to licensed drugs and medicines.

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MHRA representatives claim that regulation would help ensure the safety of homeopathic products, as well as ensuring high standards of quality and patient information.

However, both MPs and doctors have expressed concerns over the new scheme, saying that homeopathic remedies should not be given the official backing that such licensing would appear to give.

Allowing the ailment that the remedy claims to treat to be named on packaging could also be misleading, doctors say, because their effectiveness is not backed up by clinical research evidence.

According to the Guardian, MP Evan Harris of the Commons science committee said: "The multi-million pound homeopathy industry should not be allowed to make health claims for its products without proper evidence of effectiveness."

Supporters of alternative therapies responded by saying that better product labelling would simply help consumers to better understand the products on offer.

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